The field of the invention is in solid state memory devices, and more particularly in nonvolatile charge injection devices.
The operation of Metal-Nitride-Oxide-Semiconductor (MNOS), Nonvolatile Charge Injection Devices (NOVCIDs), as nonvolatile information storage devices is well known. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,911,464 to patentees Chang and Lee; 3,662,356 to patentees Michon and Burke; 3,889,287 to patentee Powell; and 3,950,737 to patentees Nojima and Matsuno are illustrative of the prior art and valuable background information in comprehending the present invention. The concept of virtually nonvolatile data storage also was presented by J. C. Lockwood et al. at the 1972 WESCON, Sept. 19-22, 1972, Los Angeles, CA.